H.—6c.

r Q.-M. SEEG. M. MCDONNELL.

696. How much would it be in the troop-deck?—ln the forward troop-deck the bulkhead went straight down. The other two decks were right away aft. 697. What length would there be in the aft decks?— They were pretty well down in the centre —not quite in the centre, but nearly so. 698. You were down on several nights and did not find the atmosphere stuffy?—l was not down long enough. 699. Do you know of any attempt to ascertain the atmosphere in these decks?—l do not know. 700. You are of opinion the officers took a proper interest in the men?—As far as the part of the ship I was in they did. When complaints were made to the officers the matter was inquired into and rectified. 701. Did you see much drunkenness on board, either in the saloon or below?—l did not. 702. Any gambling ?—I did not see much ; the men who gambled kept to themselves. 703. You did not know of it to your own knowledge ?—No, sir. 704. Colonel Davies.] When you say you issued the blankets at Durban, did you issue them to th c whole of the men in the ship ? —Yes. 705. One non-commissioned officer said he had to stand up all day long on the main deck. You know that a certain part of the deck was set apart for the non-commissioned officers, and they also had a part of the promenade deck: was it ever so crowded that there was no room for a noncommissioned officer to sit down ?—Never. 706. You never saw a day when they could not get on the lee side and sit down ?—Never, when I was there. 707. Had the non-commissioned officers room enough to play quoits on their own deck ?— Yes. 708. Do you think there was any complaint made to an officer or to a non-commissioned officer that was not rectified at once ?—No, sir. 709. Or any complaint of the food?— None. 710. Was there any reason why any men should have gone on board that boat lousy ? Had they not ample time at Newcastle to wash and clean themselves? —Yes, plenty of time, because they had a stream running alongside. 711. Plenty of water and ample opportunity ? —Yes. 712. No reason why a man should go on board the boat dirty ? -No. I know that many men washed themselves and their clothes. 713. Was not the sergeants' mess partitioned off from the men ? —Yes ; there was a screen put up. 714. Captain Lewin.] How many men were there in the Jubilee Contingent ?—About fifty. 715. And how many in the Commonwealth ?—About a hundred and eighty. I would not be sure. Trooper McGoverin examined on oath.* (No. 10.) • 716. The Chairman.] What contingent did you belong to ?—The Eighth. 717. What rank ?—Trooper. 718. You sent your name and address to the Commission as being anxious to give evidence: will you be good enough to make any statement you wish to make ?—I have no statement to make. I will answer your questions. 719. It is impossible for the Commission to know what you want to speak about: you can either tell us whether you have complaints to make or praise to give, and we shall be happy to hear you ? —Well, I have no praise to give. 720. Do you think the troops were badly treated on board the " Britannic "?—There were too many on board the boat, and some of the food was not at all too good. 721. Will you kindly lie specific ? " Not too good " will scarcely convey what we want: was the food too bad ?—lt was so bad I could not eat it—that was, the food served out to the troops ; because there was other food which I bought from the cooks, and which kept me going. 722. What part of the food was bad ? —The tea and the coffee were horrible; and, as for the meat, I did not know what to make of it at all. 723. Any other food?— There was fish there lying on the deck for a time, and the dogs went and pump-shipped on it. I did not see the troopers get that to eat, but it was said they did. 724. Have you anything else you can suggest ? Were you ever in the hospital ?—I was not. 725. Do you know anything about the hospital ? —No, nothing at all. 726. Will you inform the Commission a little more particularly upon these points—we want to get specific allegations about them ? —Well, sir, I cannot say. 727. You say there were too many on board? —Yes. 728. What do you mean ?—They were sleeping down below, and they were too thick. They were sleeping on the tables and underneath the tables, and it was too hot. 729. Was that too many for comfort or too many for transport ?—For comfort. 730. Do you know the transport regulations ?—No. 731. Do you know whether there were more men on board than there should be under the transport regulations?—l do not know. 1 only know that there were too many for comfort. 732. Did you consider yourself an Imperial soldier, or a colonial soldier, or what ? Who paid you ?—I got my pay from the captain. 733. Did the Colonial Government find the money or did the Imperial Government find it ?— I could not tell you.

♦ This evidence was sent to witness to revise, but was not returned.

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